A Trip to Yorkshire, England

About a year and a half ago, I got into watching All Creatures Great and Small, a very sweet show about a country vet, based on the books by James Herriot. Each episode is heartwarming and relaxing, but one of my favorite parts of the show is the scenery of the Yorkshire Dales. I fell in love with the landscapes, and one day I thought, “I’m going.”

 

At first this felt like a pipe dream, because it seemed unrealistic for me to get from here to remote parts of Yorkshire, England. I knew I didn’t want to drive myself around the Dales (on the wrong side of winding, unfamiliar roads) and it all just felt farfetched. But as I learned more about how one might actually get from London to York to the countryside, it started to come together.

 

When I put it on my list for the year, it still felt like a reach. But this winter, I had a bit of a rocky period (nothing serious bH, just a lot happened at once and it wasn’t an easy time), and I needed to reach for a dream. I started planning this trip in earnest. (I also planned a trip to Amsterdam at the same time, not sure what I was thinking but really wanted to do both and it worked out but I am not necessarily advocating for this approach and no, I’m not made of money).

 

First I reserved the time off on my work calendar. I decided to go in June for the weather and because it is my birthday month and to coincide with the week of a legal holiday. I booked two day tours through Grand Yorkshire after reading reviews; I especially liked that the tour vans were small and could access narrower roads.

 

I booked a hotel but ended up changing hotels later on because I was told of the legend that there is a cherem on the city of York (due to the massacre of 1190) and Jewish people don’t sleep over in the city. I spoke to a rav who did some research for me and concluded that there is no written record of this cherem but if I wanted to be extra careful, I could sleep outside the old city walls, which is what I did. I stayed in this hotel; it was budget-friendly and very pleasant (no A/C, though). There was a very decent fridge in the room, which is good info in case I…ever go back, because I could have brought more real food.

 

When it felt like a reasonable time frame, I booked my flight and train (to lock in a decent train fare). The train from London to York leaves from King’s Cross, a bonus for me!

 

The day of my trip arrived before I knew it. I flew to London on a Sunday afternoon and landed Monday morning in Heathrow airport.

 

Monday

After going through digital passport control, I got on the Piccadilly underground line. I had intended to go to Golders Green for breakfast, but on the train decided it made more sense to make some stops on the way and go to Golders Green just prior to King’s Cross. I consulted the cartoon subway map on the train and got off near Kensington Gardens to have a look at Kensington Palace. Then I took another subway to Regent’s Park to see Queen Mary’s Gardens, a rose garden that was in full bloom. This was very pretty, but my fatigue started to catch up with me and I got an Uber to Golders Green. I had a great breakfast at Beit Café and walked down the street to Kosher Kingdom to buy yogurts. Then I walked to the nearest underground stop and took the train to King’s Cross.

 

I got there at about 12 for my 12:57 train, which gave me time to collect myself and rest on a bench. I took a cute picture of Platform 9 3/4 (which greatly excited the family chat).

 

The express train to York took just under two hours. From the station, I had a short walk to my hotel, where I checked in and deposited my things. I realized that I didn’t have the right type of adapter for my phone charger because the outlets in the UK are different than in the rest of Europe, but the hotel kindly lent me one.

 

At about 3:30, I walked to the National Railway Museum and meandered for a bit among vintage engines and train cars. Then I mapped my way to a grocery store and bought water and produce. Finally I went back to the hotel, ate, unwound, packed my tote for the next day, and went to bed.

 

Tuesday

This was my BIG day: the All Creatures Great and Small-themed tour of the Yorkshire Dales. And it was an amazing day. It brought with it an incredible surprise (more soon), and I’ll always remember it.

 

I didn’t have an issue with jet lag bH, and slept well and woke up bright and early. I got ready for the day and the guide picked me up in the van at 8:30. I was the last member to join the party, and we headed out of York. The others were a cute bunch (two middle-aged couples and another single woman probably a few years older than me) and I enjoyed their company throughout the day. It’s fun to be part of a fandom!

 

I had hoped and prayed for nice weather and we had what seems to be a typical Yorkshire summer day — from blue skies to cloudy cover to drizzle back to blue skies, and even a bit of fog. I was so incredibly grateful that it wasn’t just pouring all day which had been my fear, haha.

 

We drove through a few small villages before arriving at Thirsk, where we visited the World of James Herriot. This is the original “Skeldale House,” where Alf Wight/James Herriot lived and worked, and it is set up to look like it did when he worked there. We spent about an hour there and it was lovely.

 

From there we stopped in Ripon at the Ripon Cathedral. (I avoided going in here by finding a public ladies room and then walking around for about 15 minutes until it was time to reconvene at the van.)

 

Then we headed out to the Dales. And did they ever deliver. It was the greenest of greens and it filled up my heart. The hedgerows, stone walls, green hills topped by smudgy moors, more sheep than I’ve ever seen. It looked like the pictures. It looked like the show. And I felt — feel — so, so grateful that I went through with what seemed like an extravagant idea, to go all that way to see this. It was such a gift.

 

After driving for about two hours through breathtaking scenery, we arrived at Grassington. This is the location of “Darrowby” in the show, and the market square and limestone buildings around it were instantly recognizable. The group ate lunch at “The Drover’s Arms,” a pub from the show, and I ate my lunch on a bench in the square. Then we had some more time to walk around the town.

 

We stopped next at another little church that was used to film the wedding scene between James and Helen; my public bathroom strategy was not useful here as it was kind of in middle of nowhere, but I stayed in the vestibule and then the other single woman in the group asked me if I was frum. LOL, busted. We ended up connecting over our shared Jewishness and she was very interested in learning about how I navigate kosher, Shabbos, etc. while traveling.

 

Next, we pulled up at Yockenthwaite, a farm used as “the Aldersons’ farm” in the show. We stood on the road where we could see the stone bridge and the farmhouse and buildings which were so familiar to all of us. We noticed that the vintage car that James drives in the show was parked by the house. The guide noted that this wasn’t typical, and that it was possible that they were filming there that day. We waited to see if anything would happen, but just saw one crew member walking across the property. We waited a bit longer and saw two more crew members returning with styrofoam food trays, so we figured lunch break might be ending. When nothing else happened, we all got back into the van.

 

We were just buckling up when a van pulled up by the bridge. We waited. A crew member stepped out. Then…an actor!! We weren’t quite close enough to see who it was but we all piled out again and watched as he walked up to the farm. We started waving at him and he waved back, to our delight, lol. Then we realized it was Nicholas Ralph/James Herriot!! One of our group suggested we try and meet him, so we filed down the road and over the bridge. A crew member walked towards us and I figured we were about to get waved off but he was so sweet and said we could come up for a few minutes! As we approached the farmhouse, “James,” who was getting his makeup touched up, walked right over to us and greeted us so warmly! He started schmoozing and asking us about ourselves like he had all time in the world for us, and we all took pictures with him, and it was the most crazily extra and amazing thing that I could have never planned or dreamed of!!

 

The guide said that this has NEVER happened before on the tour and my mother said it must have been a gift just for me and I think I will go with that!

 

We were all giddy for the rest of the tour, obviously. We stopped briefly at Wensleydale Creamery (basically, a place to sample Yorkshire cheese, which I did not sample) and the ruin of Bolton Castle. And finally it was time to return to the city.

 

My day wasn’t quite over. I learned that Allerton Castle, which was filmed as “Misselthwaite Manor” in The Secret Garden (1993) wasn’t far from York, so after a few minutes’ debate, I splurged on an Uber and went to see it. It was so dramatic and huge, and I’m glad I got to see it.

 

From there, the Uber driver dropped me off at Clifford’s Tower which I took a brief look at (from the outside) and then walked a bit through the city. I stopped at this plaque indicating where the old Jewish cemetery had been and then went back to my hotel.

 

Wednesday

In the morning, the guide picked me up again for our tour through the North York Moors and beyond. I had been a little fixated on the fact that I was too early to see the heather in purple bloom, which I really wanted to see. The guide assured me that the early-blooming heather had just bloomed the week before, and there was plenty to see after all! This turned out to be so delightful.

 

We first stopped at the village of Helmsley for about 45 minutes, which was so sweet. Then we drove on out through the moors.

 

The moors were full of roaming sheep and we got to get out and take pictures, which was so wonderful. This was a different type of landscape than the day before — much more remote-feeling — but also iconic and something I very much wanted to see.

 

We drove through several more villages, then arrived at Whitby, by the sea. We had two hours there, and in that time I walked around the town, took a short boat ride in the North Sea, and visited the Captain Cook Museum. It was all charming and nautical, and the day was very sunny.

 

From there we drove to Goathland, home of Hogsmeade Station! I have to say, my family chat was a lot more excited that I got a picture at Hogsmeade Station than with James Herriot, lol. We took an adorable steam train about 30 minutes down the line to Pickering, where our guide picked us up and drove us back to York, stopping briefly at an abbey ruin. (England is dotted with ruined abbeys and monasteries that were destroyed by Henry VIII after the Reformation).

 

Once back in York, I took a few minutes in the hotel, then went back out with ye olde Rick Steves and walked around the city a bit. And then it was time to go back and pack up.

 

Thursday

I got up early and went for a final walk. I checked out at about 9:20, and walked to the train station. I had a 9:58 train back to London and arrived in London just before 12. From King’s Cross, I took the underground to Balady for a quick lunch, then took the Elizabeth line to Heathrow.

 

My trip was short but it was full. I feel incredibly fortunate to have gotten to do this and to have had such a nice time. It was a dream come true for me.

 

I hope you can make a dream come true for yourself, too. You and your dreams are worth it! Thank you for reading!

 

 

(Photo credit: Kristina Roock/Pexels)